It’s been a week, with the celebration for our veterans last week in the U.S., inflation in America being at a 30-year high, the infrastructure bill making waves, supply shortages, breakthrough COVID cases, and everyone gearing up for the holidays. I trust that you and your family are well amidst everything going on right now - it’s a lot!  

I participated in a BCG panel on wealth and women, and one of my fellow panelists said, “wealth means freedom and opportunity, and it’s different for every person on what that freedom and opportunity means.”

I agree with this statement 115%. I want to remind you that your wealth is individual to you, and how you define it will impact the daily decisions you make for the life YOU want. According to BCG’s 2020 report on “Managing the Next Decade of Women’s Wealth,” the analysis finds that women are adding $5 trillion to the wealth pool globally every year—faster than in years past. With future growth expected to accelerate, that tally will get even larger. Thus, what women do with their wealth affects us ALL. 

I want to provide my view on three saving and investing platforms - Dave, Ellevest, and Wellthy - that I’ve followed over the last year, and which may be helpful in your wealth pursuits, especially as we head into the holidays and you hopefully have time to spend time with your money.

• Dave. Dave prides itself on a simple mantra - “Banking for humans.” Dave was started because three friends were fed up with their banking experience, often incurring $38 overdraft fees and never having insights into how much money was left before payday.  The platform positions itself as “the finance version of David vs. Goliath”. With Dave Banking, there are no overdraft fees, no minimum balance fees and no ATM-fees from 32,000 MoneyPass ATMs. As part of the platform, you can get a small advance on your next paycheck and then pay Dave back when it arrives. No interest. No credit check. Dave has also partnered with LevelCredit to let you report rent payments to major credit bureaus, giving you a credit-building opportunity. One of the biggest benefits is that with Dave, you can always know how much you can spend while still covering all your bills with Dave’s automatic budgeting feature. Finally, and perhaps the feature I’m most excited about, is that Dave also has a side hustle feature, wherein Dave has a network of partners to help you discover and apply for work right from your phone. They tout their ability to “Apply. Hustle. Collect your cash. Repeat.” 

• Ellevest.  Ellevest is on a mission to get more money in the hands of women. I’m drawn to Ellevest because of their mission to advance women. The company was founded several years ago to close the gender wealth gap through its investment platform. Ellevest co-founder and CEO Sallie Krawcheck, a former Wall Street titan, recently said in The Story Exchange that “Money is power, and the way to help things change in a capitalist society is through shifting capital.”. I’m most drawn to Ellevest these days because Krawcheck said that “we can’t actively advance women if we’re not advancing Black, brown, and Indigenous women as well.”  Ellevest has a monthly subscription model at $1/month, $5/month, and $9/month. For example, for the $5/month plan you get “The financial basics — plus, you can open a retirement fund and get 30% off 1:1 coaching.” There are also Ellevest Save & Spend accounts, wherein there are no overdraft fees, no account fees, and ATM fees are reimbursed when using your card in the US. And, if you’re looking to invest $1M or more, you can connect with a dedicated team to help you reach your financial goals. Ellevest also has workshops, like Negotiating your Salary, Whether you’re negotiating your salary for a new job or asking for a raise or promotion, your Ellevest career coach will work with you 1:1 to help you learn the steps of the process, strategize how to ask for what you’re worth, and plan to follow up after the conversation.

• Wellthy. Wellthy is transforming family care through personalized care support that you can control from an online dashboard. Wellthy focuses on life circumstances that demand our attention, especially when there’s immediate needs. Wellthy can put you in touch with a care professional right away to get help with an urgent task, or set up your dashboard for continued ongoing support. They help with coordinating daily tasks like filling prescriptions to the bigger ones like moving to a facility and end-of-life preparations. Whether it's a tough diagnosis, ongoing condition, depression, or addiction, Wellthy prides itself in helping you or anyone you love find the care support needed.A big value proposition with Wellthy is that you have a skilled care professional dedicated to you.  Your care professional knows your story from beginning to end. They'll guide your whole family through a care plan, advocate for your loved one, and moderate those tricky conversations. One of the features that I am intrigued by is ‘family coordination,’ wherein they can help keep siblings, friends, even neighbors in the loop and on board with streamlined communication — one email thread, one moderator, one voice of reason. Lastly, but importantly, I have to warn you that the Wellthy service is an investment (e.g. $350 per month), and thus, I highly suggest you speak to a Wellthy care person for FREE to see if and how the platform can help you or your family. The investment may surely generate the return your family needs.  

Let me know if you have other platforms that you would like to share with the Charisse Says community. I will do some of my own digging. The important thing is that we can share great resources with each other. 

A Wealthy Girl Corner - HOLIDAY BOOK DEALS 

The holidays are coming, and you know what that means - loving on others through the language of “giving gifts.” Well, get ready because I have several upcoming HOLIDAY BOOK DEALS for A Wealthy Girl: 7 Steps to Prosperity, Peace and Personal Power: 

• The Kindle ebook will be on sale for $1.99, a 80% discount. 

• The paperback will be on sale for $13.49, a 25% discount.     

Yes! You can order the book on Amazon!

These deals will start at 7am EST on Wednesday, November 24th, just in time for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and only last through midnight EST on Wednesday, December 1, 2021. 

I know others can use the gift of a ‘wealth guide,” which my book provides.  Who in your life needs to find prosperity, peace, and personal power? 

Of course, you can also buy the audiobook for your loved ones.